7/28/2019 Types of Research Methods.pdf

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Types of Research Methods

AdaptedfromEdvantiaSBRRatingforTechnicalAssistanceProgramsandServicesform(2007)andCarterMcNamaraOverviewofMethodstoCollectInformationhandout(1998)

2008 by The SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. All rights reserved. www.serve.org

Evidence of

effectiveness

Research

Method

This is This works best for these

kinds of questions

This doesnt work well

for these kinds of

questions

Additional Things

to Note

LOW Descriptive-

Qualitative

(Ethnography/

Case Study)

Detailed descriptions of

specific situation(s) using

interviews, observations,

document review

You describe things asthey are.

How do people implement

this program?

What challenges do people

face?What are peoples

perceptions?

Did the program cause

any changes in

participants outcomes?

Descriptive-

Quantitative

Numerical descriptions

(frequency, average)

You measure things as

they are.

How many people are

participating in this program?

What are the characteristicsof people in this program?

How well did participants in

this program do?

Did the program cause

any changes in

participants outcomes?Why did the program

work this way?

Correlational/Regression

Analyses

Quantitative analyses of

the strength ofrelationships between twoor more variables (e.g., are

teacher qualifications

correlated with student

achievement?)

What is the relationship

between various school orclassroom context factors andstudent achievement?

Is the extent of

implementation of a program

across sites correlated with

better outcomes?

Did the program cause

any changes inparticipants outcomes?

Look for words such as,

more likely than, lesslikely than, associatedwith, related to, and

correlated with.

Quasi-

experimental

Comparing a group that

gets a particularintervention with another

group that is similar in

characteristics but did not

receive the intervention

norandom assignment

used

Did the program cause any

significant differences inparticipants outcomes as

compared to non-participants

with similar characteristics

who did not receive theintervention?

How are people

implementing theprogram?

Why did the program get

the results it did?

Look for the phrase

compared with.

Look for results that are

both statistically significant

and meaningful.

NOTE: Did the study test

the equivalence of treatment

and control groups prior tothe intervention?

7/28/2019 Types of Research Methods.pdf

2/2

Types of Research Methods

AdaptedfromEdvantiaSBRRatingforTechnicalAssistanceProgramsandServicesform(2007)andCarterMcNamaraOverviewofMethodstoCollectInformationhandout(1998)

2008 by The SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. All rights reserved. www.serve.org

Evidence of

effectiveness

Research

Method

This is This works best for these

kinds of questions

This doesnt work well

for these kinds of

questions

Additional Things

to Note

HIGH

Experimental

Using random

assignment to assignparticipants to an

experimental or treatment

group and a control orcomparison group (e.g.,

one receives theintervention and one doesnot)

Did the program cause any

significant differences inparticipants outcomes as

compared to the control

groups outcomes?

How are people

implementing theprogram?

Look for words such as,

causes or leads to.

Look for results that are

both statistically significantand meaningful.

NOTE: The interventionshould be clearly defined

so that you know what it

was designed to entail, and

to what extent it was

implemented in the study.Also look for information

on the experience of the

control group.

Meta-analysis

Synthesis of results from

multiple studies to

determine the averageimpact of a similar

intervention across the

studies

Over all studies conducted on

a particular intervention or

strategy, what can be saidabout the direction or

strengths of the impacts?

What does the totality of

research studies say about theeffectiveness of a program?

How are people

implementing the

program?What are peoples

perceptions?

Look for selection criteria

used to include studies and

look for measures of effectsize.

Look for differences in

results among the studies.Do some studies show

positive results while others

show negative or do allstudies show positive

results?